You would never guess that Ron Isaacs’ beautiful images of vintage clothing and found objects are made of wood — yes, plywood.

The Kentucky artist is “intrigued by the memories of objects.” He believes they carry an associative history and that — by combining vintage clothing, found objects and natural elements — he can create narratives.

His trompe l’oeil images combine painting and sculpture.

On view in Sherrie Gallerie, the works embrace nostalgia. Merriam-Webster defines nostalgia as “pleasure and sadness that is caused by remembering something from the past and wishing that you could experience it again.”

In Isaacs’ case, the past is made visible but remains illusory. The Sassafras Baby — an assemblage of an infant’s gown, a chalkboard and autumn leaves — offers surprising transitions. Moving from fabric to manufactured object to natural form, the piece is a tour de force of technical skill. Because the works are simulations of the real, our perception of the temporary and transient nature of life is magnified.

In some works, the associations that Isaacs builds speak to the rural past. In others, the work is profoundly poetic. Haiku is a collection of four natural forms consisting of a seedpod, a branch, thorns and a snail — all set on a green ground.

In November, the twigs that magically grow from a 19th-century embroidered cape seem fitting — like extra appendages that were somehow always part of the garment. Dimensional and convincingly painted, the illusion is broken only by the appearance of two birds.

Similarly, the fleeting presence of birds occurs again in English Sparrow as twigs form a bird shape; and also in Hooded Warbler as leaves part, leaving the negative shape of the bird.

Other works function as both puns and metaphors. In Wisdom, a box of fallen leaves placed at the heart of a woman’s black blouse signals an awareness of mortality. A light-green dress merges with a wallpaper design in Wallflower.

Through subject choice and composition, Isaacs directs us to contemplate nature and the past. His work invites viewers to free-associate and to investigate histories both real and imagined.